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Public College

Winona State University

Public College in Winona, MN. Six-year graduation rate 57%. Median 10-year earnings $58,532.

Verdict Solid outcomes
Winona State University · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$58,532
Median debt at grad
$21,500
Graduation rate
56.9%
Federal loan default
0%

Ten years after entry, the median Winona State University student earns $58,532 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 57%, meaning about two in five students who start do not finish. Graduates carry a median of $21,500 in debt — in line with the national norm.

Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.

Green Flags
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags

Admissions

Acceptance rate
75%
Applicants
6,642
Yield rate
24.2%

75% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. 6,642 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield sits at 24% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all.

Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)

These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.

Test 25th–75th percentile Submitted
SAT Evidence-Based Reading
SAT Math
ACT Composite

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

Apply at Winona State University →

Academics

Full-time retention
79%
Transfer-out rate
30%
Student:faculty
14:1

Six-year completion sits at 57%, meaning about two in five students who enroll leave without finishing. 79% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in five are gone before sophomore year. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. The 30% transfer-out rate is high enough that a large share of this school's students are really passing through. The 14:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$18,289
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
71%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
50%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,088 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Net price lands at $18,289 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $10,224 at the $0–30k band to $21,307 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 71% of students at an average of $6,213. Federal borrowing reaches 50% of students.

Entering first-year students

A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.

% receiving grants
96%
Average grant
$5,375

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,145 students

Net price by family income

The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.

Family income band Average net price
$0–30k $10,224
$30–48k $11,792
$48–75k $13,814
$75–110k $17,871
$110k+ $21,307

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 2,561 of these 5,088 students, totalling $15,729,648 — an average of $6,142 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Winona County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$791/mo
1 bedroom
$868/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,066/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
131
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Winona State University with peer institutions

How we evaluate Winona State University

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →